I’m not entirely sure why I cling to my childhood, whether it’s nostalgia or an inability to let go or just the fact that toys and games have never really stopped making me happy in general, but I’ve noticed that toy manufacturers can make quite a lot of money by updating my childhood. They’ll take some clunky toy from the 1980s and redesign it with modern engineering technology and aesthetics to produce something much more advanced.

Perhaps in answer to my endless prayers, the latest toy range to undergo this treatment is the lego pirate range. Lego pirates are universally acknowledges as being the most awesome things on the planet ever.

“Excuse me.”
“Can I help you?”
“When the sign says 20% of printers, does it include this $79.99 scanner/printer?”
“Yes, that comes down to $63.99. You know, I had someone come in the other day and buy this other scanner/printer for $99.99, and he said he was really happy with the scan quality.”
“Um… this scanner has exactly the same resolution as the one I was just looking at.”
“Uh, yeah! That’s what I was just about to say!”

Sheesh. What is it about computer stores in particular that the salespeople try every tactic to make you spend more money? Even though anyone who wants to buy a scanner is probably going to already know the resolution of the cheapest scanner in store?

I realise I should really have acquired a scanner long ago, but I didn’t have enough desk space for it, and to fit a bigger desk into my room I had to tidy it, and to tidy it I had to work up the motivation… and it’s hard to work up the motivation to tidy my room when it’s easier to daydream about what I’m going to do when I get my new scanner.

“Freezing mud has seeped down into my socks. Sarah Palin has gone up in my estimation.”

I love putting that quote out of context. It’s from this article, where Palin’s competence as a future Vice President is measured by her ability to hunt deer. Because apparently it’s the only place you can look to find competency.

There’s also this video and this one. She seems to have written Roe V Wade on the back of her hand or something, somewhere between ‘9/11’ and ‘iraq’ and just above ‘Obama is a terrorist’. Too bad she didn’t have room for the names of any newspapers or journals.

It’s like Sarah is a contestent in a TV show called Who Wants To Be The Vice President? where it’s more about systematically humiliating people than finding talent. I for one hope they pick up this show for a second season – it’s brill!